Woodland Antics

Today we celebrated Clay's first year. It's truly unbelievable how quickly it flew by and how much he's changed. Just today his 6th tooth came through. Every day makes such a difference at his age. It's truly been a joy watching him grow these past 12 months. He's such a beautiful little soul, cheeky, but beautiful. Here's a picture of him at just over a week and then today... He's wearing the same outfit.  I remember it being a bit baggy on him as if it were yesterday.  - yes, I know I missed the 9th,10th and 11th month- what can I say? He's the third child and probably pretty lucky I made it as far as I did. Happy Birthday little Clayton. We sure do love you a bushel and a peck. xo

This Butterball is growing up all too quickly. Yesterday marked 11 months since he came to us.  In one breath I feel like I just had him, in the next I feel like I've had him all my life. Last week he started saying "all done" and "dog".  He gets so excited for himself. He'll squeal and clap and do his iconic scrunched up face... it's all so darn cute! Thanksgiving day was like any old Thursday. It was actually an extremely busy day with Fiona's Irish dance show, swimming and appointments. Fiona did a fantastic job in the production of The Little Mermaid. I have some pictures of her in costume that I'll post.  She was a blue Fish.  Clay's top two teeth are pushing there way through.  They are so close that it looks like they're out but they haven't cut yet.  Poor bub.  We hope you all had a happy Thanksgiving!  Love From, The Woodlands

 On Monday he started calling me "mama"  On Tuesday he wouldn't stop saying "dada" On Wednesday he went to the beach for the first time since he was a newborn. (see pictures from that  HERE ) He was in awe as he crawled through all that sand and then the real fun began when he reached the ocean... he didn't want to get out.

We often call Clay "C-dawg" or "Sea dog" depending on the occasion. In recent weeks he's earned a new nickname... "lil' possum" because he never wants to let go of me. {or Ryan if I'm not around} He's like a baby possum holding on for dear life to his mama.  I even googled it because it's been such an issue.  The good news is it's perfectly normal at this age and it means he's about to become more independent. He's clapping a ton, starting to wave hi and bye and over the past week has mastered the pincer grasp. Clayton is such a character and I'm so sad for so many of our family and friends missing out on him. He's definitely worth a trip down under to meet... That said, we hope to make a trip up over soon.

My little Clayton is about to be 8 months old!!  Some moments I feel as if he's been with us forever while others I feel like I just had him. He's such a joy and source of happiness for all of us that I can't imagine a life without our Clayton Ryan. I'm so incredibly grateful. I've been keeping up with his monthly pictures with Mozzarella but just haven't taken the time to post them until now. I should mention Mozzarella is Fiona's beloved bear.  She asked Santa for him a couple years ago and even though he takes up half her bed she sleeps with him every night.  (along with 20 other stuffed animals)  A huge thank you to Fiona for letting us use him as a point of reference for Clay's rapid growth. 4 months 4 Month Stats: Weight- 6310g (13 lbs 14 ounces) 25th percentile Length- 61cm (24inches) 10th percentile Head- circumference  41.5cm (16inches) 50th percentile 5 months 6 months 6 Months Stats: Weight- 7...

Given that Clay will be 4 months in just a couple of days I should post his 3 month bear picture that was taken a month ago. At 3 months he...  weighed in at 5410 grams (11 pounds 14 ounces)  {25th percentile} His length was 56 cm (22 inches) {almost to the 5th percentile}   head circumference was 41cm (16 inches) {75th percentile} A better side by side comparison... * I had to change his 2 month  "digital baby book" information because I had converted his weight in pounds incorrectly.  Instead on 9 pounds he weighed 10.

Little Miss Fiona became a 7 year-old on Sunday... {seven} She woke up to find her favorite thing next to her birthday sign... Flowers! After a birthday breakfast and opening gifts we were off to Luna Park for her birthday experience. (Pictures to come) Our Little Clay is growing up too.  If you can believe it,  he's now 2 months old. Clayton's busting out of the clothes he wore just a few weeks ago... it's wild. He's smiling and grabbing these days.  (my hair seems to be his favorite thing to pull) He weighs in at 4,660g  (10 pounds 4 ounces) {5th percenile} length 52.1cm (20 inches) {less than the 5th percentile} Head circumference 38.5cm (15 inches) {just below the 50th percentile} He's still catching up but doing it with a quickness! Clayton Ryan is an incredibly healthy strong baby... Hooray! It's all happening so quickly,  my babies are growing up.

Random scenes from the past couple of days...  She's started changing his diaper for us-  I'm loving the age gap! Last night Reed asked, "Can you believe we have a baby?" Nope. But my oh my am I grateful for our beautiful little one.    This little guy is 6 weeks.   It's been a blur. He had his shots on Tuesday, therefore, a grumpy little guy ALL DAY! At 6 weeks he weighs 4.1 kilos/ 9 pounds. What? Needless to say, Clay grew out of his newborn clothes this week. :(

Today was Reed & Fiona's first day as second graders!  Reed never wants his picture taken for this... but I say, "Tough cookies little man!"  They woke up to this... Recently I've been putting up a list of things for them to accomplish each morning. It's been especially handy over the holiday because it's kept them busy, giving Ry and I a little time for  extra sleep.  The biggest benefit is once they're done the list they're not even thinking about screen time and end up playing with each other.  I do like to include one silly task just to get a laugh out of them. *********************************************** You might think because I love to record everything about these beautiful children I've kept impeccable  baby records. Not so.   I don't think I ever filled in more than a page for Reed or Fiona.  I have no idea when their first tooth came in or how much they weighed at 2 months. The closest I'v...